burnt embers

This is the second part of a post that was started yesterday and which features aspects of a mural on the Ogden Point Breakwater and other notices about First Nation’s history in this area. I have been compiling a map of such places as I blog about them, and have added this mural to the map which can be found here.

Today’s post is one of three that I will be making about projects installed in the Ogden Point breakwater area in recognition of the indigenous peoples – two are about this mural painted by to recognise the indigenous history of this area, and one for a nearby history kiosk which includes a set of panels about First Nations at the time of contact with Europeans. There is a lot of information about the murals on the web and I have provided a few links at the bottom of this post that tell the story of the mural, the artists and their young apprentices. I will let those posts speak for themselves and just show you how it is turning out.

This is Phase II of The Land and Sea Mural and the information panel to go with it which is located west of the pilot-boat dock (see yesterday’s post for Phase I). Phase I was completed in 2009, Phase II in 2010. The design is by Esquimalt artist Darlene Gait in collaboration with Songhees carver Butch Dick. The painting was done by youth resident in the area. The project serves long term goals for raising awareness with residents of and visitors to Victoria, but also as an employment project that immersed young artists in Straits Salish culture for the duration of the project. I have used a bit of the prayer (a Bahai prayer translated into Salish) which lines the mural as a design theme for this post – this prayer marks the part of the mural painted during Phase II. Check out the video at the end of this post (and the Phase I video too) – it’s well done and informative.

This gallery shows details from the Phase II panels with an emphasis on the young artists, as well as all the images shown above

(I can’t figure out how to make a gallery with only some of the images).

Click on any image to launch the gallery viewer.

————-  Some Sources  ————-

video link in case your device does not display the video above properly

• Na’Tsa’maht – Unity Wall Website – this is really one-stop shopping – great photos, artist profiles, stories, video links and so on.
• Darlene Gait website
• Butch Dick on the Songhees First Nation website
• Press Announcement for Phase II
• Facebook Page
• Mural Phase I (from Na’Ts’maht site)
• Mural Phase II (from Na’Ts’maht site)
• Provincial Capital Commission Publication summarising this and similar projects in the Greater Victoria area.
• Article about the Bahai prayer and its use in Phase II.

The Odgen Point Enhancement Society is conducting ongoing fundraising to finance the next phase of the is mural. If you are interested in contributing, this is the link.